A.M. Splits the run into two because of a chess tournament. So did 12 with Gary including the standard Saturday 6 mile tempo - 2 down, 2 up, 2 back down. The wind had record strength today and the splits showed it: 5:27, 5:32 (10:59), 6:31, 6:44 (13:15), 5:29, 5:21 (10:50). Gary stayed with me through the first mile. This is great progress for him. Once you can run a full mile at a good pace, the upper rungs of the ladder move within reach. Then he blocked the wind for me for about 600 meters on the way back, which is a good part of the reason the mile was 6:31 instead of 6:44, and stayed with me through a half in 2:42 in the last 2 miles. I felt I experienced a positive development in the form in the last mile. The hamstrings were working and were getting tired. That is good for me, as mine tend to be idle while the quads fatigue and become the limiting factor. But when the hamstring works the quad has to relax. Jenny and Julia ran 2. Afterwards, I took Benjamin, Jenny, Julia, and Joseph to a church chess tournament. Among all the stakes of Orem there were enough chess players that they got around to organizing one. Benjamin and I played in the advanced division, while Jenny, Julia, and Joseph were in the intermediate. The games were rather informal, no time control. Benjamin played 7 games and won all, although he did have close calls in a couple. Jenny played 7, won 6, lost one. Julia had the same score. I saw the end of one of them, and was pleased to observe that she was able to win the exchange (rook for a knight), then stop the opponents pawns that threatened to queen, then queen her own pawn, capture the knight with a fork, and then mate with the king and the queen. She remembered all the things I've taught her in her seventh game. Joseph won 1 game and lost 3, I think. I drew two games, and won 2. P.M. Total of 8. 1 with Jacob, 1 with Joseph. Tobler boys joined us. Then 6 with Benjamin. We discussed the chess games the entire time. There were 11 games to review. It took up most of the 6 miles. But we still showed the 8:00 guy who's the boss in spite of the brutal canyon wind. | 